Dear Editor,
I’m writing in response to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s article in last week’s paper touting the One Big Beautiful Bill as a “Family Bill.”
In her column, Sen. Capito neglected to mention the big cuts to Medicaid, which could have a disastrous impact on independent and rural hospitals.
Rural hospitals have some of the lowest operating margins in the country and depend hugely on Medicaid to stay open.
Pocahontas Memorial Hospital is one of the precious gems of our county. Every experience my family has had with this hospital has been terrific: the staff are friendly and professional, the care is excellent, and they take an interest in you as a human being. This is an experience that is increasingly rare in American medicine today, which is being dominated by cruel, inhuman, profit-driven forces like private equity.
Last November, West Virginia overwhelmingly voted to put Republicans back in power on the basis of campaign promises to end illegal immigration, fix broken trade agreements and keep our country out of forever wars.
The unpopularity of Biden -era policies does not mean Republicans have a mandate for cuts to Medicaid that put our rural hospitals at risk.
It’s very important to hold politicians like Sen. Capito accountable, and not let them get away with a bait-and-switch where the new, “populist” Republican Party turns out to be the same as the old one, putting tax cuts for billionaires before the needs of our people.
Warren Balogh
Hillsboro
